Sword Art Online: Dungeon Crawlers (Chapter 1)
by stsquid
Summary: Sword Art Online: Dungeon Crawlers is a story about a boy called Caesar (an OC, just for clarification) and his adventure as a treasure hunter in Aincrad. Chapter 1 tells how he arrived in SAO and his first day/night in the game.


****DISCLAIMER****

 **This Fanfic is T rated however, I do plan to go M rated at one point in the story**

 **I will warn when the chapter is M rated with a disclaimer like this one.**

 **Act 1: Birth of a Treasure Hunter**

It's around 1 o'clock. The servers should be stable now, hopefully. I link my NerveGear up to my computer and place the bulky rig over my head, hiding my golden hair and emerald eyes from view. I take a seat on my bed before initiating the link, just to think about my possible adventures through this grand, and not to mention virtual, world. I finally lay down after the excitement in me has settled and I begin the link. I take a deep breath. "Link start!" I say, with a large grin on my face as my excitement boils in me once again. The technicolour tubes fly past, and the 5 senses seem to have linked up just fine and they shoot off to the sides of my vision. I select my language and logged in. I then created my character, being that I didn't get into the beta. My character is a rogue looking young man with long hair passing over his left eye, similar to my hair. Incidentally, I decided to go for the most roguish class; the thief. This was only due to the light weaponry and armour, which would allow me to carry more treasure from dungeons. I finalize my character and the screen moves on. Then, I see the iconic text; "Welcome to Sword Art Online!". And after travelling through what could only be described as a wormhole of blue crystals, I was in Aincrad.

I decided to head straight to the markets to look at the equipment on sale from the NPCs. As I'm wandering up the street, a young-looking man with flowing burgundy hair dashes past me, looking as though he's trying to catch up to someone. This scene makes me feel a little bit uneasy, as I'm going to have to get used to social situations given my role in this game; a treasure hunter. Thinking about this role, I decided to look at my stats and the possible skills I could take. I see I have a larger amount of dexterity over strength and a reasonable amount in each other attributes. I feel as though after a few dungeon clearings, I will scrap my dagger and begin using swords to do some more damage. I also think they suit my playstyle more, being that I usually play a knight character in other RPGs. Speaking of dungeons, and clearing them, I decided to head out to the fields to begin my grind. After grinding my fair share of boars, the sun begins to set on this beautiful world. I turn back and head back to the Town of Beginnings when something strange occurred. A bell tolled. "What in the world?" I said to myself. Why was this happening? But, as this thought finished, I was then engulfed in the white light of teleportation.

After the teleportation happened, I was back in the Town of Beginnings, outside the Black Iron Palace. What was happening? A welcome ceremony? Or was it just some kind of bug? As I debate the possibilities, a strange blob fell from the sky, which formed a robed being. The giant told me, along with the thousands of people here, we were trapped here. At the hearing of such news, the entirety of the crowd was in uproar. There was huge rioting and shouts from fellow players. I looked up, frozen and in shock. We're trapped? This has become our lives now? He then goes on to explain what will happen to our bodies and what could happen to them. This was shocking. Beyond shocking, dreadful, frightful. The figure warped back into the sky and the area returned to it's original dusky tone. The crowd was in even more uproar due to the lack his presence.

After what transpired, I took this opportunity to retreat to the nearest tavern to rest up and to let this new information sink into my mind. I sit in the corner and order a drink. I patiently await my beverage when I am approached by someone. "Is this seat taken?" they ask.

"Uh, no, it isn't" I tell them. They sit down opposite me.

"My name is Strea. Nice to meet you!" she says, bubbly.

"I'm Caesar. Nice to meet you too." I say, reaching out for a handshake, which she takes and shakes back. "So, what do you make of what Kayaba said?" She asks me, trying to keep quiet about it. "Like, how are you going to get by?"

"Well, I'll go on with my original plan most likely. Treasure hunting." I tell her.

"Oh! That sounds like fun!" Strea says, bombastically. "I'd love to do something like that, and live off my own stuff that I found." This sounded as though she wanted to tag along, but I tried to play it coolly. "Well, having a party for treasure hunting kinda defeats the purpose. I mean, I find loot for me to use or to sell. It'd be boring running a 'finders keepers' rule." I say, trying to keep her out of my business. "But, how will you clear the areas? With that dagger? You'll need someone to actually deal damage, won't you?" she asks. She was persistent, and right.

"Well, I suppose I do. But I'll have that covered after a few dungeons."

"That's too many to risk, you could die on your first!" Strea says, leaning over the table and looking at me. She was right, though. I really didn't want to have to rely on others, should my antics get them into trouble. "Do you wanna tag along with me?" I ask, trying to sound as though I don't want her to. "Of course I do!" she replied, as bombastic as ever. This was odd. Why would she want to party with me? Someone who could easily be a mercenary for people who actually will progress through this game, wants to join with me? I try to shake this thought and I party up with Strea, and call it a night.


End file.
